Roumi told reporters that he submitted a letter signed by him and the eight MPs addressed to the public prosecutor authorizing him to investigate movements into their bank accounts since the start of the current legislative term in June 2009. The move came in a bid to clear the names and reputation of the signatory MPs after at least two banks referred the accounts of several MPs to the public prosecution for allegedly receiving huge deposits, Roumi said.
Roumi, himself a lawyer, prepared the letter about two weeks ago and invited other MPs to sign. The other MPs who signed it are: Falah Al-Sawwagh, Faisal Al-Mislem, Shuaib Al-Muwaizri, Jamaan Al-Harbash, Abdulrahman Al-Anjari, Adel Al-Saraawi, Hussein Mizyed and Saleh Al-Mulla. MPs Marzouk Al-Ghanem, Aseel Al-Awadhi and Maasouma Al-Mubarak have said they will sign the letter when they return from abroad, Roumi said. The letter allows the public prosecution to investigate all cash deposits exceeding KD. 30,
000 into the accounts of the MPs and their minor children, he said.
Earlier this month, about 20 MPs signed another document authorizing the Central Bank and other legal authorities to investigate the bank accounts of the MPs, their wives and close relatives. The corruption scandal has plunged the country into a major crisis, threatening a major showdown between the government and the opposition.
At a new gathering late Monday night, opposition groups appeared to be succeeding in joining ranks in a bid to submit a joint grilling of the prime minister over the scandal and the lack of action on the part of the government and a possible involvement of the government. Speaking at the gathering, Islamist MP Harbash called on opposition MPs to withdraw two grillings filed against the prime minister that were due to be debated in November and join in submitting a unified grilling focused entirely on the c
orruption scandal. Harbash expected that the opposition will have enough votes to vote Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah out of office.
In a related development, the Assembly’s legal and legislative committee failed to hold a meeting yesterday for the second time this week for a lack of quorum and its chairman MP Hussein Al-Huraiti blamed Islamist opposition MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei for the cancellation of the meeting. Three of the seven-member committee are outside Kuwait and all the four remaining members must attend the meeting in order for it to convene. The committee was due to review a large number of draft laws, all related to fight c
orruption, including a wealth disclosure bill.
Tabtabaei however put the blame squarely on Huraiti, saying that he deliberately called off the meeting although he had called the committee secretaries and informed them he was on his was to attend the meeting. Huraiti later explained that he only applied the law and called on Tabtabaei to come on time for the meeting to take place. The next meeting is scheduled for Sunday.
In another development, the criminal court yesterday set the next hearing into the case of MP Mohammad Hayef until Oct 18. Hayef is on trial on charges of threatening the life of the Syrian ambassador and undermining Kuwait’s foreign relations. At a public rally in support of the Syrian revolution last month, Hayef was quoted as urging the crowd to ask for a fatwa if the Syrian ambassador to Kuwait could be killed. Hayef however denied before the judge yesterday that he had threatened the life of the ambas
sador as he only called on the crowd to seek the fatwa (a religious edict) if he can be killed.
